Collard Greens With Black Beans

This is a simple Nutritarian style meal that uses commercial pasta sauce and canned beans. You can reduce prep time by using frozen collards, onions and mushrooms. The dish doesn’t take the whole jar of pasta sauce. I freeze the remaining cup for use another time.

Wash, de-stem and chop the collards and set aside. The easiest way to prepare collards is to work from the back of the leaf. Slice down each side of the stem and put leaves in a pile. Roll the pile of leaves and slice thinly crosswise, then slice diagonally into 1 to 2 inch pieces.

Chop onion and mushrooms and set aside.

Combine beans and pasta sauce and set aside.

Coat a large covered non-stick skillet or dutch oven (at least 5 quarts) with oil and add onion and mushrooms. Cook covered, stirring frequently until soft, adding small amounts of water as needed to prevent sticking.

Add as many collard greens as will fit with a small amount of water if needed to prevent sticking. Cover and allow collards to wilt. Keep adding collards and mixing frequently until all have been added.

Continue cooking, stirring frequently for about 5 to 7 minutes or until greens are tender but still nice and bright.